More public art to come to Santa Clarita

New projects in Santa Clarita will have a touch of art added to them thanks to a new arts policy approved by the city council during its general meeting Tuesday night.

Called the civic art policy, the new policy will allow new capital improvement projects to allocate one percent of their budget to fund approved civic art projects. The new policy will have the Santa Clarita Arts Commission select artists for each new art project, the artists will then present their plans to the arts commission before the selection is narrowed down to one artist.

The commission hopes that these works of art will act as local landmarks and tourist attractions.

When presenting the policy to the council Arts and Events Manager, Phil Lantis hoped that this would create art the community would be proud of, that could make a lasting impact such as Chicago’s famous Cloud Gate.

The policy was unanimously passed by the city council with great praise for the Arts commission as a whole. “I just want to express what a phenomenal job they have done for this city,” said Councilman Bob Kellar.

The civic art policy will be fully implemented for the 2018-19 fiscal year.

City Recognitions

The city council also took the time at the beginning of the meeting to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness month. Mayor Cameron Smyth said in his induction of the recognition that he hopes this will bring awareness to bring an end to this “major problem”.

Two city employees were also recognized by the council for their recent work helping the public.

Building inspector Charlie Allen was recognized for the judgement he showed in helping stop a house fire. While on an inspection Allen heard a distant fire alarm, after finishing his inspection he tracked the alarm to a nearby house with the smell of smoke. He quickly called LA County Fire department who quickly responded to prevent the fire from spreading. Allen would also assist firefighters in securing the homes animals to keep them safe from the blaze.

Communication Specialist Mayumi Miyasato was recognized by the city council for her work in coordinating information to the public with Santa Rosa city officials during the Santa Rosa fire.